Week four, day one.

The interior became more claustrophobic as months carried on, nearly strangling what little hope remained. Everything was so white and futuristic, technology no one had even imagined yet. What stood out more were the soldiers wearing all black, their heavy equipment and weapons attached on waists to add to the intimidation. Though the same could be said for the kids. Aside from Jiyoon’s own red suit, she’d been using that gear since the first day they forced her to wear it, but from then on, Jiyoon was the military’s puppet. Any shred of humanity at this point was lost once they thought about experimenting on youth like her. There was even another girl who was about two years younger. Monsters. She kept the hope that one day they’ll bust out of this place and never look back. However, what could be done? Jiyoon could practically see Chaerin’s forlorn eyes, like the girl had already given up long ago. Even the other three who were stuck here.

Though thankfully, Jiyoon persisted and followed through with experiments to give herself some time to secretly find a way out. Due to the risk though, she had to have a Plan B. Where could Jiyoon go after leaving? Before being able to think any further, the barrier slid open, revealing the room she hated most. Those freaks just sitting outside and watching Jiyoon use her powers never felt right. To say she felt insecure was the understatement of the century. She didn’t realize how long she’d been frozen until a soldier rudely shoved her, then locked the door. Jiyoon was alone again. Excluding the stupid speaker, of course.

“Alright, Ms.Shin. Please stand at the side to get ready for experiment VI.” Oh yeah, it’d been six months already. She complied before waiting once more. “I will count down from five, you know what to do after that.”

Without another word, Jiyoon took a few deep breaths, preparing herself by facing the wall fifteen feet away. Inhaling, she waited for the cue, closing her eyes. The scientists would determine what would happen next depending on the result. In those very few seconds, Jiyoon thought about everything that’d angered her during the stay here, how they treated Chaerin, the others, and more ty things. Then, immediately after one, Jiyoon’s cheeks glowed from the heat and her eyes shone bright red as she exhaled a scream that was masked from the sudden explosion as flames trailed all the way across, burning everything in its path before striking the wall. Greater than anything they’d ever seen. One of the elder scientists instantly got up from his seat upon witnessing something so magnificently horrifying and deadly. What a creep. Jiyoon stood there confused, having nothing to say besides backing towards the door. He began applauding after the experiment.

“That was amazing! This is exactly what we are looking for! Great job, Ms.Shin.” All that received was a small, nervous nod. “We’re done for now so let’s call it a day.” Soon, everyone piled out of the lab, heading back to their quarters while Jiyoon was locked back in her room. It was sealed off completely so she wouldn’t hear anything outside.

“Sir, she definitely has the power after all that training. We’ll have a huge advantage now.” 

“When this gets reported to the president, we might even get promoted.” The small group of science freaks chuckled amongst themselves until the eldest man stopped them. 

“Or…” he looked around to see if any soldiers were nearby, “this can only be between us, and nobody else…the president doesn’t need anymore power since there are four other Reds.” 

“But they and Jiyoon are the only Reds in the world, sir. What if he finds out?”

“Oranges like him are highly weak to the ultrasonic rings. If we’re able to get our hands on one of those guns, then nothing can stop us.” 

“Y-you’re right!”

“Shhh, quiet down. Now what do you all say?” Everyone agreed immediately, nodding along. “Great. Now there must be a way for us to stow away Shin Jiyoon without getting caught, so let’s start with a plan tonight.”

“Huh? Isn’t that a little too soon, sir?” 

“Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time.”

With that being said, they too left the area and headed back up to the surface through elevators. After quickly finishing with today’s experiment, the girl herself was now dressed in her red prison suit, merely laying in bed and dozing off. There was much to think about. Being stuck here for months worked in Jiyoon’s favor as places were now easier to locate, thus it didn’t take long for her to find the exit. The only way out of this hell hole. She questioned whether tomorrow would be safe enough to possibly escape. But obviously, Jiyoon couldn’t do it alone. When Chaerin finally walked out of the bathroom, they both sat down together, thoroughly finding loopholes and such without causing too much trouble. After seven hours, the girls decided to get some rest, eagerly waiting for tomorrow night when everyone is caught off guard. At least that was their hope. Unbeknownst to them while sleeping, the door’s clicked and opened. There came two scientists tiptoeing in, trying hard to remain silent. One tapped on Jiyoon’s shoulder, waking her up as she narrowed her eyes.

“Hm? Who—” They hastily shushed before scanning the area, then sighed in relief when there was no one around. 

“It’s ok. We just need you to come with us.” Jiyoon didn’t even ask them what they wanted yet.

“Why are you here?”

“We’re getting you out.”

Wait. What? This sounded a little too good to be true. “Wh—how?”

“Hurry up and put on your gear before time runs out. We must be there soon.”

“Can my friend come with us?” 

“No. Only you. Now hurry up.”

An immediate red flag. Despite being suspicious, Jiyoon still did so anyways, but while the scientists weren’t looking, she shook Chaerin awake and told her to follow quietly. When everything was secured, they led Jiyoon out of the room and were thankfully dumb enough to not lock the door behind. Hallways remained darked, but flashlights guided them along. She’d never been to this side of the underground lab, thus didn’t know what to expect ahead. Jiyoon subtly looked behind, relieved when Chaerin was carefully following close behind. The younger girl flashed a thumbs-up and she would’ve smiled at this if their situation wasn’t so serious. Before Jiyoon knew, they were now in a room full of equipment and other sorts of things. She saw an elderly man standing at the center behind a counter, looking at some enormous map.

“Welcome, Shin Jiyoon. Please explore around.” 

“Uh…what do you want with me?” 

“Don’t fret. It’s only something small. If you work with us, you’ll be free from here.”

“And what exactly do I help you with?” He didn’t have to hesitate for long when his phone suddenly vibrated with a call. 

“I’ll get right back to you on that. When I’m finished, I’ll answer your questions.” Without another word, the man had one of the other scientists to stay behind and look after Jiyoon as he left. After a minute of simply looking at stuff, she heard something drop and hastily turned around. Chaerin stood over the scientist’s unconscious body, a wrench in her hand. 

“Wow, you really have some stealth there.” 

“I always did that to skip school and hang out with my friends at the alleyways.”

They both giggled quietly before looking around. “They really spent lots of money on this stuff. No wonder our economy is suffering inflation.” 

Chaerin scoffed and agreed while scanning the walls full of highly advanced gadgets. Then something in particular caught her eye. She shook Jiyoon’s arm to grab her attention. “Dude, look.” 

“What?” Before them were special looking earplugs, its description simply summarized the ability to silence out the ultrasound rings, preventing anyone who wore these to hear them. The girls gasped before grabbing dozens, chuckling as Jiyoon safely pocketed the items. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here before they come back.” Chaerin informed while shoving the knocked out scientist into a locker and shutting it. At that moment, the rest of the people came back into the room. Startled, Jiyoon looked over her shoulders and thankfully Chaerin was already hiding. 

“We should get going now, Ms.Shin. Our ride is waiting.”

“Where are we going?”

“A place where the military won’t be able to find us.”

“Hm…you still need to answer my question.”

“What question?” Obviously playing dumb. 

“What do you need my help with?” She narrowed her eyes at him, waiting. Sighing, the elderly scientist finally ‘answered’. 

“Your capability far exceeds any of the other Reds in this vicinity. Therefore, you’re a very valuable child. The military wouldn’t give you up for anything. Especially the leader, Clancy Grey.”

Jiyoon frowned. “And who is that?” 

“You don’t want to know.”

“Right, as if I could trust you all either. I’m tired of being people’s puppet to play with and I want to leave.”

“And you will! We are your chance of freedom if you come with us.” 

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”

He remained silent after that, as if knowing this was going to be the case. But Jiyoon didn’t really have a choice. The old man held a tranquilizer behind his back, unbeknownst to Jiyoon. Right before he was about to fire a dart, Chaerin unleashed her fiery energy, instantly setting the whole place on fire. All of the scientists were engulfed in the flames, screaming in pain while trying to escape. Jiyoon quickly grabbed Chaerin the elbow, leading them further away before the soldiers could find them. Loud alarms blared and woke everyone as numerous yellings roared throughout, surprisingly even more boisterous. Everytime soldiers would run by, they’d immediately hide behind walls before sprinting once more. The girls didn’t stop running as Jiyoon took many turns to find the exit, which thankfully didn’t take long. Standing back together, both of them exhaled a fierce wall of fire at the barricade and a huge opening formed. However, the commotion lured attention from soldiers, who soon discovered the girls.

“There they are!!”

Jiyoon frantically held Chaerin’s hand, but she stayed still in her spot. “Let’s go! We can escape!” 

“No…you have to leave. I’ll hold them off.”

“But you won’t make it in time!” She still didn’t want to release her friend’s hand.

Chaerin didn’t say anything else before pushing the older girl away, then ran back to breath out a trail of fire, burning the soldiers running towards her. Jiyoon could only watch from afar, wanting desperately to go back and help. But the elevator was also just a few feet away. She heard Chaerin’s voice echoing, yelling at her to escape now while there was still a chance. Tears glossed over her eyes, Jiyoon didn’t have a choice anymore. As the elevator began upwards towards the service, she caught one last glimpse of Chaerin being knocked out by a machine gun and dragged away. She couldn’t imagine what would happen next, hoping the younger girl would remain alive after this chaos. When the doors opened, Jiyoon was back in the prison’s hallways, shakily walking out. It wasn’t safe to stay here longer, thus she had to hide somewhere. Jiyoon took off her boots so then it wouldn’t be noisy before running off again. The thought of entering Green’s section went by too fast, only because she was desperate. It’d just been bedtime for everyone right after finishing work. Having no other options, she randomly stopped at one door, knocking on it so someone could let her in. Seconds later, a girl came out looking annoyed and was about to cuss at Jiyoon but she immediately barged inside without any hesitations, not forgetting to shut the entrance behind.

“Hey! The are you do—”

“Please, just let me stay here! I’m in danger.”

“Cool story, now get the hell out of my room!” She forcibly tugged on Jiyoon’s arm, but the girl continued pulling back. 

“Please, please! Don’t turn me in, let me stay!” 

“I would get in trouble, too, asshat! Leave already!”

“Sir! I hear something over there.”

They both immediately stopped at some soldier’s voice. Pushing the other girl aside, Jiyoon booked for the closet, shutting it close and hiding inside. Then, she waited anxiously and hoped that the stranger would miraculously be able to lure the soldiers away. She was a Green after all, right? Jiyoon picked up some muffled voices, exchanging a short conversation until it seemingly ended. Suddenly, she was then coercively pulled out from the closet and landed harshly as the girl glared at her, having only one thing to say.

“I won’t ask again.” 

“Please, just listen to me. I only need a place to stay.”

“You can stay somewhere else.” She was about to grab Jiyoon by the arm again, but not after a quick dodge.

“I beg you! Please. I can’t go back. They’ll never let me go after this!”

“Where the hell did you even come from??”

“An underground lab. They built to experiment with kids like me.”

The girl only grew more confused. “Why?” 

Well . “B-because,” here goes nothing, “…because I’m a Red.” 

Then a brief moment of silence. Now nervous, she shook her head. “Yeah, no, get out.”

“No wait! I promise I won’t cause you any trouble, I swear!” 

“Just you being here is troubling enough!” The girl tugged Jiyoon by the shoulders, desperately trying to force her out. 

“Please! I’ll do anything! Just let me stay!” She clung tightly onto her leg like a koala, not letting go whatsoever. 

“Ugh! Fine!” 

“Yaaaaay~”

Jiyoon’s joy was an abrupt one. “But you leave tomorrow morning.”

“Awwww, can’t I stay longer??”

“No.”

“Please? At least until I find somewhere to stay.” 

The girl rubbed her temples, already feeling a slight headache dealing with this before taking one look at Jiyoon. “…you’re sleeping on the ground.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Fair enough.” But before she laid down, there was one more request. “Do you have any more of your green suits? This gear is a bit uncomfortable to sleep in.” The girl reluctantly nodded as Jiyoon quickly changed and soon plopped on the floor with a smile. “I promise, I’ll make it up to you someday!” 

“Whatever….” Then the lights were turned off. 

“Say, what’s your name? I’m Jiyoon.”

“Soeun.”

“Oh! You’re the girl I bumped into before I got taken to this place. What a coincidence we end up in the same camp.”

“Huh?

“You know, you’re known in the school for always skipping class? Attendance rate basically nonexistent?” 

“That’s no one’s business.”

“So what do you do if you’re not in school?” 

Didn’t Soeun just tell her to mind her own business? “Nothing.” 

“Oh. I thought you’d do something cool.” 

“Can you sleep now, please? Or do I have to make you?” She threatened while balling up her fist but Jiyoon seemed to have not received the hint. 

“Nah, it’s cool. I’m not really tired.” Soeun stayed quiet for a while after that, having nothing else to reply with, thus shutting her eyes once more. Only to be rudely interrupted minutes later. “By the way, how did you lure those soldiers away from your dorm? After I hid in your closet?”

“I asked them to leave.”

“Just ask them?? And they listened?” 

“Yep.”

“Wow, do they always listen to Greens?” 

“I guess.” Jiyoon pouted at the vague answer, though chose not to ask anymore questions. However, Soeun’s grew curious as well, despite being tired. “This underground thing you were talking about…what’s it for?”

“Ugh, for experiments. Since I’m a Red, they’re using me as a weapon for the military. I’m basically their puppet.” 

“Oh. So what do you do?”

“Just show them my powers, how strong I am.” 

“How did you escape?” 

“Kind of complicated…I was planning to leave with my friend, but she risked her own life to save me. So, I wouldn’t be here without her.” Jiyoon’s mood quickly dimmed remembering that event just an hour ago. 

“Who’s your friend?” 

“Chaerin.” 

“Wait, what?” 

“Hm?” 

“Last name?” 

“Park.”

“She’s—she’s my friend, too.” Soeun then sat up, with Jiyoon reflecting her shock. 

“Seriously??” 

“Yeah. Chaerin’s been a Red this whole time?” Asking particularly no one. “What happened to her?” 

“I-I don’t know…I last saw her fighting the soldiers….” 

“….”

“I’m sorry, I really tried to go back, but….”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “It is what it is then.”

Jiyoon didn’t say anything else, before turning on the side towards the wall. If there was any way to go back and rescue Chaerin, Soeun definitely would. But if Jiyoon had been able to leave this underground base, then those people would very likely install more strict security measures than ever by now. She couldn't imagine what happened to Chaerin after that whole thing. Therefore, the likelihood of not getting caught was basically impossible. They both hated to admit this, but there was no going back whatsoever. If that was Chaerin’s decision, then Jiyoon will live on so the sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain. Eventually, the two girls finally fell asleep. The last thing Soeun thought about was whether or not she should introduce her to everyone. God knows how they’ll react after finding out Jiyoon was a Red. After all, her place on the danger level chart was debatable because hell, she might even be more powerful than Soeun.

At some point in the night, Jiyoon had found the hard ground uncomfortable and proceeded to squeeze herself a spot in the other girl’s one-person bed. Luckily, she didn’t seem to notice this while being in a deep slumber, until the next morning. Soeun groaned in pain, hissing when she massaged her shoulder and saw a nasty bruise. Before realizing it, she ended up falling onto the floor after Jiyoon unknowingly pushed her off her own bed. Soeun glared before yanking the pillow away and smacking the snoring girl with it. Jiyoon was immediately startled awake, questioning what on earth happened. Rolling her eyes, Soeun didn’t bother answering before entering the bathroom, locking it. Not much was said between them while they freshened up, but didn’t exit the room just yet.

“Wait. Before we go, you need to disguise yourself as a Green.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m in the suit already, aren’t I?”

“I meant, literally act like one. You know, smart and stuff?” 

“Oooooh, gotcha! Don’t worry, I’ll keep it cool.” She flashed two thumbs up as Soeun slowly nodded, hoping that meant what she thought it meant.

Jiyoon was informed about some escape plan that a friend group Soeun knew had been plotting for a while, immediately becoming intrigued by it. She didn’t know much of the details that the girls had come up with, but made sure to ask Zoa about it soon. Now all they had to do was reach the cafeteria and find them. Thankfully, there were way too many Greens for the soldiers to care who was who, thus, Jiyoon slipped in without them sparing her a second glance because of the suit. On one occasion, however, Soeun thought they were going to get spotted when she randomly started chatting with the cafeteria ladies, quizzing them to some riddle that they didn’t have time to think about as she hastily pulled the dork away to scold her. Jiyoon’s excuse was to make it seem like she was smart like a Green, literally. Soeun could only face palmed herself before grabbing a bowl for the gruel and some apple juice, shoving a carton in the older girl’s hand. Next objective: find the girls.

Morning went on like always; work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep. Shouldn’t have been something to get used to, but here they were: building machine guns again. Though, on the bright side, this definitely benefited Zoa. For instance, she now had an idea of how to build a small variety of weapons besides machine guns. The blueprint for it was quite similar with other ones, so maybe one day, she’ll be able to craft and build more. When the bell rang for lunch she quickly left for the cafeteria, meeting up with everyone else. Thankfully, Jihan and Jaehee were able to join this time. Soon, the girls gathered at a table, talking about their days like usual. Over these past few months, they’d grown closer than ever, sticking together and being there to listen whenever someone needed to vent. Soojin served as the glue of the group and never left anyone out of the discussion. Everyone played a part to craft the ‘perfect’ escape plan, each girl giving her own ideas. Zoa made sure to jot everything down in her notebook, which was running out of pages at this point.

“Alright, so let’s go over this again. Monday and Jaehee are in charge of shorting out the CCTVs in the camera room, Soojin and Jihan will knock out any soldiers guarding that area. Then, we’ll climb through the vents, but be really careful and quiet because they make lots of noise in one bump. I can lead the rest of the way.”

Soojin nodded, smiling. “Got it. Should we bring Soeun along?”

Zoa smirked before taking out a small piece of paper. “Yep, she’s in. I’ll check later and inform her about the escape tonight.” She almost giggled when her sister looked visibly relieved. “We’ll occasionally let Soeun unnie use her powers whenever we need to, since there may be too much for her to mind control more than one person.” Zoa pondered on for a bit more before concluding. “And because that kind of ability might corrupt more than she already is.”

“I mean, it’s been months, so probably.” Monday added, but Soojin shook her head.

“I’m sure she didn’t have to use it that much.”

Jaehee quickly raised her hand. “By the way, about the camera thing, wouldn’t that alert other soldiers? Because that might be noisy, too.” 

“Don’t worry, they put the alarm near that place so I’ll be able to disable it with some tools I stole. Perks of building machine guns all day, everyday.” 

Everyone nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Nice,” Monday giggled, “also, are we sticking together after this? If we’re able to escape?” The girls were taken aback, having not thought of this yet.

“I want to go back home where Jihan and I live. Our parents are waiting for us, so you guys can come along if you want?” 

“Oh…we were thinking about going to our house, too. We didn’t get to see ours before we got taken away.” Soojin replied, but they nodded understandingly. 

“Well, wherever you guys go, I’ll come along. I don’t know any other places to call home.” 

Zoa nodded before closing her notebook. “Welp, then it’s settled. I’ll tell Soeun unnie about tonight.” Right after saying that, she was startled by a hand gripping her shoulder. Zoa sighed in utter relief when it was just the girl herself. “Geez, you scared me.”

“Sorry. I was looking for you.” 

“Oh, we all just finished reviewing the plan. Come have a seat!” Soojin offered a spot right next to her as Soeun sat down, along with Jiyoon. Her new presence confused everyone. 

“Uh, hey?” Jihan waved at her. 

“Hi! Sorry for the informal introduction but my name is Shin Jiyoon. You can simply call me Jiyoon. I like doing math, riddles, tests, etc.” She smiled enthusiastically while unexpectedly shaking the younger girl’s hand. 

Soeun did her best not to groan so loudly out of frustration, but thankfully enough, she got along with everyone sitting at the table. “So what’s your power?” Monday curiously asked as Jiyoon raised an eyebrow. 

“I—I’m a Green, see? I-it’s right here, the suit.”

“Hm…you don’t act like one.”

“Whaaat? What do you mean? Of course, I’m one!” She tried to dismiss it, but her obvious nervousness basically gave it away. 

Zoa slowly nodded, feeling suspicious. “Right. So what’s really your power?” 

Jiyoon remained silent after that and not-so-subtly turned to Soeun. “Is my acting really that bad?” Whispering. 

“It’s ing terrible.” She deadpanned, making Soojin chuckle a bit. 

“Whatever it is, you can tell us. We don’t bite.” Monday quickly reassured her. 

Then, after a deep breath. “I’m…I’m a Red.”

Instantly, Jihan choked on her orange juice as Jaehee patted her back while everyone else gasped. It was a miracle the soldiers didn’t notice. “A Red?!” Zoa’s eyes widened. 

“Like—the fire breathing one??” Jiyoon hesitantly nodded at the question from Monday.

“That’s so cool!” Soojin merely applauded, pleasantly surprised and delighted at how diverse this group was. The younger girl visibly sighed in relief at this. 

“Wait, wait, wait, wait….” Zoa hastily silenced everyone. “How are you still alive? They didn’t…you know.”

“Didn’t what?” 

“…kill you on the spot?” Tensions immediately grew upon that realization as Jaehee was next to add on.

“That’s what they do to anyone who’s Orange.” Then they all slyly shifted their attention to Soeun, who simply sipped her apple juice carton. 

“Oh…u-um…long story, I suppose.”

Jiyoon filled them in on her experiences with this ‘camp’. The group was rightfully shocked about the underground experimentation lab, horrified that the military could possibly get worse than they already were. Everyone listened to every detail intently, what Jiyoon had been through, the other Reds, Chaerin, the scientists and more. They could only sympathize, expressing utmost concerns, which made her feel welcomed and fully understood for once. As expected, the girls wanted to go back and save Chaerin, but Soeun argued about how extremely dangerous it was. Truthfully, she had a point, thus, that idea was gone as quickly as it came. Soon, they all started sharing their own stories about the camp, some good, mostly bad, obviously. When Jiyoon found out about Soeun being Orange, her eyes almost popped out. But she wasn’t too surprised because it made sense. Eventually, they all moved onto the next topic about their escape plan. Jiyoon paid very close attention to every detail while looking through Zoa’s notebook, astonished seeing numerous pages completely filled. She smiled and nodded, discussing things out with everyone as they filled in on each of their objectives.

“This is absolutely perfect!”

“Yep. So then we’ll all split up once we reach this area and then Blues and Golds will do their thing. You guys can follow me to the control panels where I disable the alarm.”

“Gotcha! Oh. One more thing. I have these earpieces that nullify the ultrasonic sounds those soldiers use on us.” Jiyoon took some out of her pockets.

“Wh—you had these the whole time and you didn’t tell me?? I would’ve let you stay last night.” 

“I didn’t think about these until now.” 

“Wait.” Jihan quickly stopped her. “How do you know for sure they work?” 

“When I was escaping, the scientists took me into their gadget room and the sign for the earplugs said they could do that.”

“Wait. So are they earpieces or earplugs?” Zoa questioned. 

“Both. We can also communicate with these, too, apparently.”

“Oh, we can test these tonight and see if they actually work.” Soojin suggested, earning agreements all around. 

“All right. Now that that’s our plan, be sure to check the time at midnight.” The last thing Zoa said right before the bell rang for everyone to resume work. It was all the girls could anticipate for the rest of the day.